Was Russell the Founder of What is Now Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Walter Martin and Norman Klann, in their books, Jehovah of the Watchtower (page 13, 1974 edition) and Kingdom of Cults (page 49, 2005 edition), make the following statement: “Charles Taze Russell was the founder of what is now Jehovah’s Witnesses and the energetic administrator that brought about its far-flung organization.” In reality, Russell did not believe in an authoritarian kind of organization such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, nor did he believe in the “gospel” (alleged "good news" of bad tidings of great misery that will be for most of the people that they and their children will be eternally destroyed in Armageddon) that the Jehovah’s Witnesses preach.

An author on one site states:

Here’s the facts. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were started by Charles Taze Russell, who was associated formerly with the Second Advent Millerites, who became the Seventh Day Adventists.

Another states: "The sect now known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses was started by Charles Taze Russell."

Here's the real facts:

The Jehovah's Witnesses were not started by Charles Taze Russell.

Russell did have some association with the Second Adventists, we have found no historical record of his ever having any association with the Seventh Day Adventists. Nevertheless, some of the Adventists did follow Ethel G. White and adopted her teachings, but we have found no record that Russell was ever associated with 7th Adventist Church, nor did Russell ever believe in the "sabbath" teachings of the SDA, nor did he ever believe that the earth would be without inhabitants for a thousand years. While the 7th Day Adventists eventually became the largest group to come out of the Adventist movement, there were many Second Adventists in Russell's day who were not 7th Day Adventists, and who did not believe in the SDA doctrine.

However, unlike the JW leadership, Charles Taze Russell was a non-sectarian who believed that the true church could be found among all Christian denonimations and sects. Russell did, however, urge Christians to give up such sectarianism, recognizing that God is going to destroy all such denominationalism and sectarianism, since such will not be permitted in God’s kingdom. (No, Russell was not preaching the eternal destruction of members of the various sects, as do the Jehovah’s Witnesses. He did preach that sectarian organizations will eventually be destroyed, thus freeing those who belong to such organizations so that they might be united to God through Jesus.

Many may not realize that Brother Russell did not claim that only those associated with him are true Christians. We present below some statements from Russell regarding “the true church”:

Those in all denominations who have conformed to the conditions required of Christian discipleship, the saintly ones, constitute the True Church- “The Church of the First-born, whose names are written in heaven.” — Harvest Gleanings, Volume 3, page 498.

If we shall recognize these saintly Christians of every nation and denomination as being the one true Church, “whose names are written in Heaven,” and if we shall recognize all others as Gentiles, we shall be getting the eye of our understanding into true alignment with the mind of God as expressed in the Bible. From this standpoint only can the prophecies of the Bible be understood. — Harvest Gleanings, Volume 3, page 616.

Russell taught that the Gospel of Jesus Christ includes the preaching of the “ransom for all, to be testified (witnessed) in due time.” (1 Timothy 2:5,6) Thus, he believed that every one who has been condemned by means of the sin of Adam will “in due time” benefit from that ransom for all, including Adam himself. In other words, Russell taught almost the opposite of what the Jehovah’s Witnesses preach.

The real founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization was Joseph Rutherford, who, after Russell died, almost immediately began laying a foundation for his new “organization” doctrines. Rutherford created the Jehovah's Witnesses organization by rejecting the basic teachings of Russell and the Bible Students. By 1928, more than 75% of the earlier Bible Students movement had rejected Rutherford’s new doctrine of a “God’s visible organization” and were carrying on their ministries totally separate from Rutherford’s new organization. The Bible Students still exist to today, separate from the organization Rutherford created. In order to distinguish his new organization from the Bible Students, Rutherford had his followers adopt the name, "Jehovah’s Witnesses", in 1931.

We have provided links to much documentation that supports what we have given on the following pages:

Russell, Authority and Organization
Russell Versus the Jehovah's Witnesses
The Ransom and the JWs
Russell and the True Church